Mamata to be sworn-in as Bengal's first woman CM today

Buoyed by her resounding victory in the West Bengal assembly elections, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has envisaged a swearing-in ceremony where Left leaders will be rubbing shoulders with the victims of Left rule - people from Nandigram, Singur and Netai. HT reports.

Buoyed by her resounding victory in the West Bengal assembly elections, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has envisaged a swearing-in ceremony where Left leaders will be rubbing shoulders with the victims of Left rule - people from Nandigram, Singur and Netai.

Banerjee has invited the entire 44-member outgoing Left Front ministry and other prominent Left leaders - people with whom she has never shared a dais - to the ceremony at Raj Bhavan on Friday.

Not to be outdone in courtesy, most of her political opponents have accepted the invitation, including outgoing chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Left Front chairman Biman Bose.

Ironically, they will be rubbing shoulders with victims of some of the carnages that took place under the 34-year Left rule.

On Tuesday Banerjee visited former Lok Sabha speaker and expelled CPM stalwart Somnath Chatterjee at home to invite him to the ceremony.

Banerjee on her part had boycotted all Left Front government programmes since her party's inception in 1998.